Fire in the MidEast

Buzz word for today: Day of Wrath. Very scary. Hamas is preparing outright war against Israel as we speak. It is 2009 and Israel is all but at war. Tomorrow will make the 7th day of bombing by the Israeli forces. Do you have the goosebumps yet? I'm not going to say much more because I don't want to come across like I know something the rest of the world doesn't. I don't know if this is prophetic fulfillment or if its just one step in that direction. But can't you feel the rumblings in your soul?
Let me just take a minute to exegete the terms you are hearing in the news. So many people are turning a deaf ear to the situation because its downright confusing to know who is who. So here goes:
Israel - a country located on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest. The West Bank and Gaza Strip are also adjacent. With a population of about 7.28 million, the majority of whom are Jews, Israel is the world's only Jewish state. On May 14, 1948 the state was created as Israel declared independence. Since its foundation, its boundaries and even the State's very right to exist have been subject to dispute. They have signed peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan.
Hamas- the Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement, a Palestinian organization committed to eliminating Israel and replacing it with an Islamic state. Considered a terrorist organization by the United States, and an offshoot of the Sunni Islamic organization the Muslim Brotherhood,President Mahmound Abbas of the Palestinian Authority is a member. Hamas has demanded Israel withdraw to its pre-1967 borders, release thousands of political prisoners and recognize the right of Palestinians to return to communities absorbed by the creation of Israel in 1948.
Hezbollah -or Party of God, was founded by Lebanese Shiites in 1982 after Israel invaded Lebanon. With Iranian help, the group organized the country's Shiite minority into a national force with its own militia, TV station, parliamentary bloc and cabinet minister while resisting national and international calls to disarm. The group is led by 46-year-old secretary general Hasan Nasrallah, an Iranian educated cleric.

Gaza - a coastal strip of land along the Mediterranean governed by Hamas. 139 sq. miles of disputed territory. The area is not recognized internationally as part of any country but is claimed by the PNA as part of the Palestinian territories. Israel still controls the airspace, and port access for the strip even though the residents are Palestinian Arabs.

Fatah -both a political party and guerilla organization, and, along with Hamas, is a dominant political force in Palestinian politics. It was founded in 1957 by Yasser Arafat and others in Kuwait as the Harakat at-Tahreer Filasteen ("Movement for the Liberation of Palestine"; "fatah" is the acronym in reverse) and launched its first military attack on Israel in 1965. Fatah is the most powerful constituent organization within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Mahmoud Abbas(remember, he's from Hamas) is also a member of this political party.

Palestinian Authority -the administrative organization established to govern parts of the Palestinian territories, Gaza and the West Bank.

The PLO - began as a federation of anti-Israel Arab guerrilla/terrorist organizations but by 1969-70 it was swallowed by Yasser Arafat's and Mahmoud Abbas's Al Fatah

Other facts to know:
Hamas and Fatah were in a civil war in 2007.

Israel's defensive strikes come in response to multiple Hamas rockets being fired into Israel immediately upon expiration of a cease-fire with Israel.

If you didn't know, now you know.